Use of lasers in industrial manufacturing environments has become more widespread in recent years. Industrial uses of lasers include cutting and welding. In many instances, laser welding can replace resistance spot weld or MIG weld applications while providing greater flexibility and speed.
The use of a laser to weld sheet metal parts has presented some complicated obstacles. Typically, sheet metal parts must be welded along seams one or more inches in length. When perfectly controlled surfaces are provided on sheet metal parts, laser welding of these seams has been done fairly easily. However, in more practical circumstances the surfaces of the sheet metal at the seams are not perfectly controlled. For example, there may be gaps at the seams where the two pieces of metal come together due to metal burrs, slight bends in the metal, etc. These gaps, when in excess of a few thousandths of an inch, have caused failure of the weld and rendered many sheet metal welding applications impractical.
What is desired is a method and/or apparatus for more effective laser welding of sheet metal parts.